GLINDA (2014)
Dir. Nicole Cosgrove, 10 min, Live-action
[ festivals/awards ]
2014 Palm Springs International ShortsFest – ***WINNER - BEST OF FEST***
2015 Cleveland International Film Festival
2014 Vancouver International Women's Film Festival
2014 Big Bear International Film Festival
2014 San Diego International Jewish Film Festival
2014 FLICKERS: Rhode Island International FIlm Festival
2014 Female Eye Film Festival – **INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE**
2014 Hardacre Film Festival
2014 Hollyshorts Film Festival - ***WINNER - BEST ACTRESS***
[ Director's Statement ]
GLINDA quietly depicts the loneliness and isolation that occurs after the loss of a life partner. I have an affinity for films that visually display the most challenging emotions. As an audience member I find pleasure in observing the silent quirks of another human. GLINDA tells us volumes through a look or a gesture. She wordlessly cues us about aging, jealousy, anger and loss. As she returns to her daily routine in the pool she hopes for a chance at weightlessness. However, the relief is temporary and the outside world proves to be a dark and haunted place.
I spent my childhood years around a stoic dinner table. Any direct emotional conversation amongst family was confusing and often misunderstood. I reacted in kind. As I grew older I became obsessed with watching and listening to adults. I was hunting for the slightest admission of vulnerability - presenting itself in an awkward glance or in the tremor of a voice. This curiosity bled into my social life and later into my creative work. I have spent years watching the minutia of human mechanics trying to decipher what someone is saying without ever saying anything at all.
My perfunctory mid-western childhood provided the canvas for GLINDA but I was further inspired by my experiences during my first year in New York City. I decided to take up swimming at the local YMCA. Each day I noticed the same eccentric old lady. She would drift along in the lane next to mine and often sing to herself. Her slow but steady shuffle in and out of the pool told me about her determination. There was an ease that emanated from her. The subtle quiver of her lips as she hummed and swam suggested a vibrancy left over from younger years. I imagined that she must be alone in the world, which was a feeling that resonated with me at the time. She was all that was left of a legacy from a previous generation. I felt like she was sharing all of her secrets with me without ever uttering a word.
Creative meetings for GLINDA began in August of 2012. I met with DoP Ludovic Littee and producer Spencer Gillis to chat about making a "silent film." We decided on a few poignant wide shots that would show a diminutive Glinda inside a big, noisy backdrop. After casting Tovah Feldshuh for the role her and I spent hours creating the backstory for Glinda's life. We built a look book with pictures from Glinda's wedding and talked about her past a a beatnik and her love for her Jazz musician husband. Glinda suggests that she knows we are there- watching her as silent voyeurs. A quick glance into a mirror reminds us of our own human fate- that we too will be old one day. A hand brace prompts us to recognize that the body will eventually betray us. Glinda reminds us that loss is a large a part of the human experience. She asks us to think-how will we feel when it is our turn?